FREDONIA, N.Y. -- It was almost midnight on Friday, Oct. 23 when head women's volleyball coach Geoff Braun called a team meeting in the lobby of the Geneseo Hampton Inn. The team had just lost its fifth conference match and was now in danger of not making the playoffs for the first time in 13 years.

"The team was clearly struggling and we needed to get to the bottom of it before playing on Saturday," Braun said. "As a coach you assume that the athletes are having these conversations by themselves during practice, in the locker room or between sets, but it was becoming more apparent to me that these conversations, or at least genuine ones, weren't taking place."
 
After several teary-eyed players talked about expectations, accountability and their desire to make post-season, sophomore Kristen Stanek (Hamburg, N.Y.) spoke up. She expressed how lucky they all were to play on a team that felt like a family. She had friends at other colleges who, despite success on the court, were not enjoying their teammates or the experience. She was adamant that she wouldn't want to play college volleyball anywhere else.

"I think we are so lucky to be a part of this team," Stanek said, recalling the meeting. "Not every team can say they have a group of girls they would call their sisters and best friends. I've never been able to say that before. These girls are like family to me."

The team used that cohesiveness on the court the next day. Wins over Potsdam and Geneseo resulted in a berth into the SUNYAC Tournament, which starts Friday at Brockport. The No. 6 seed Blue Devils will take on No. 3 seed Oswego, the same team that almost ended their season two weeks ago, at 4 p.m..

"Since that last SUNYAC weekend we've been building our confidence," Braun said. "It's never an instant change, but we were very strong that Saturday against Geneseo to get into the playoffs, and we pulled a lot of positives out of this past weekend against strong competition."